Electrical connections in semiconductor and electronic components are often made using a protrusion or “ball” of conducting solder, such balls are well known in the industry. They are typically bonded to a pad on a component or Silicone Chip or Silicone Wafer, again these being well known to those experienced in the art. Currently the diameter of the balls ranges from 1 mm to 0.040 mm but future sizes are expected to follow the established trend and become still smaller. The balls are also commonly arranged to be adjacent to each other in the form of complete or partial two dimensional matrixes. The pitch between balls varies but is in the order of two times their diameter. Such balls are often tested by gripping them with a pair of special tweezers and then pulling them to test the strength of their bond to the pad. Such tweezers are usually connected to a load cell and the quality of the bond can then be graded by the force to failure.
To test the bond it is desirable to grip the ball so that the highest possible pull force can be exerted on to the bond. Prior art exists for this using a cavity in each of the opposing jaws of the tweezers that reforms the ball as the jaws close around it. This system is known as CBP, standing for “Cold Ball Pull” or “Cold Bump Pull”.
A problem exists where during repeated use the cavity of the jaws starts to build up with solder. The shape of the cavity is very important and the build-up of solder adversely affects the test performance by reducing the maximum force that can be exerted on to the bond. Because of their small size, cleaning the solder out of the cavities is very difficult. Mechanically cleaning them requires very small tools and very precise alignment of the cleaning tool to the cavity. Such cleaning methods are time consuming and can damage the cavities. This invention provides a means to easily clean the build-up of solder out of the cavities.